Policy Brief Summary:
Last week testimony took place several tribal-related pieces of legislation in both chambers, including water rights’ agreements for three Native Nations in the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. This week, SCIA hears two bills impacting South Dakota tribes, while Senate Ag covers rural water challenges. The White House posts its readout of the Department of Agriculture Listening Session on Competition Legislative Priorities with Food and Agriculture Advocacy Organizations, though no tribal-focused organizations are listed as participants. Upcoming BIA consultations on the Indian Arts & Crafts Act, with an IFAI policy paper concerning its agricultural impacts on tribal products. Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ meat processing operations gets going through $7.1m in USDA funds, while the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community work on securing traditional lands near Willamette Falls in Oregon through an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service.
Congressional Hearings
Looking Back:
Hearing: House Ways and Means Committee Monday, July 10th at 3:30pm ET
Topic: “Trade in America: Agriculture and Critical Supply Chains”
Highlights: Witnesses stressed the importance of ensuring U.S. trade partners commit to the terms of international trade agreements. They also underscored the value of U.S. agricultural resources and production and stress the need to expand international markets while investing in domestic economies.
NOTES
Hearing: House Natural Resources Committee Wednesday, July 12th at 2:00pm ET
Topic: H.R. 929 “The Puyallup Tribe of Indians Land into Trust Confirmation Act of 2023”; H.R. 2882 “The Udall Foundation Reauthorization Act of 2023”; H.R. 3579 “The Tribal Trust Homeownership Act of 2023”
Highlights: Witnesses provided support for the three bills outlining positive impact on specific parts of Indian Country and Indian Country writ large. H.R. 3579 specifically prioritizes the mortgage processes within BIA.
NOTES
Hearing: Senate Indian Affairs Committee Wednesday, July 12th at 2:30pm ET
Topic: S. 616 “Leach Lake Reservation Restoration Technical Corrections Act of 2023”; S. 1898 “Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project Amendments Act of 2023”; S. 1987 to provide for the settlement of the water rights claims of the Fort Belknap Indian Community.
Highlights: Hearing from several witnesses and testimony on respective water agreement bills between Navajo Nation and the State of New Mexico, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and the federal government, and Ft. Belknap Indian Reservation and the State of Montana.
NOTES
Hearing: Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Wednesday, July 12th at 2:30pm ET
Topic: Pending legislation hearing over several bills pertaining to land management, involving tribal nations and several western states, specifically those in Oregon, Utah, North Dakota and Montana.
Highlights: Testimony from state and federal officials on several pieces of legislation returning parcels of federally-managed lands, with specific mentions of tribes partnering with local stakeholders and federal departments in support of the respective pieces of legislation. No tribal officials called as witnesses, but remarks from several members of the committee indicate their work with tribes impacted by the respective legislation.
NOTES
Looking Ahead: Congressional Hearings this week: July 10-14th
Hearing: Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Wednesday, July 19th at 2:30pm ET
Topic: Pending legislation hearing over several bills pertaining to water rights; S2166, to amend the Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991 and the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to provide grants to States and Indian Tribes for programs to voluntarily re-purpose agricultural land to reduce consumptive water use.
Hearing: Senate Indian Affairs Committee Wednesday, July 19th at 2:30pm ET
Topic: S. 2088 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to complete all actions necessary for certain land to be held in restricted fee status by the Oglala Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.
Hearing: Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee Wednesday, July 19th at 3:00pm ET
Topic: “Rural Water: Modernizing Our Community Water Systems.”
White House Executive Orders/Actions:
Regulatory/Rulemaking Actions:
For access to older, still open Federal Register Notices visit: IFAI’s Policy Briefings Webpage
Agency: Office of Policy Development and Research, HUD
Action: Notice of Proposed Information Collection
Why it matters: HUD is requesting comments about Housing Counseling Notice of Funding Opportunity to determine if grant applicants meet the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).
LINK
Posted: Week of July 3rd
Agency: Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), USDA
Action: Final rule with request for comments due August 28th, 2023
Why it matters: FCIC is amending its regulations to incorporate actual production history (APH) requirements. These regulations will cause changes to the crop insurance policies for the 2024 and succeeding crop years on or after June 30, 2023.
LINK
Posted: Week of July 3rd
Agency: USDA
Action: Notice of establishment the Tribal Advisory Committee Nominations for membership due August 14, 2023
Why it matters: The Tribal Advisory Committee will advise the Secretary of Agriculture on Tribal and Indian affairs, governed by the provisions of FACA. This notice also solicits for nominations for membership on the Tribal Advisory Committee.
LINK
Posted: Week of July 3rd
Agency: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Action: Notice of revised Consultation Handbook – June 28, 2023
Why it matters: Even though NOAA’s existing policy and guidance was developed in consultation with federally recognized Indian Tribes, NOAA recognizes these documents would benefit from another review and update. Part of this update also includes comments sought on the existing Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)
LINK
Posted: Week of July 10th
Tribal Consultation/Listening Sessions:
Title of Event: Indian Arts and Crafts Board – Nation-to-Nation Consultation and Hybrid Consultation
Date/Time: August 2, 2023, at 2 p.m. EST (Nation-to-Nation Consultation Only)
About: The Department of the Interior (Department) seeks Tribal and Indian artist input on draft revisions to 25 CFR Chapter II (Indian Arts and Crafts Board). The draft revisions seek to modernize the Indian Arts and Crafts Act’s regulations, which are implemented by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (Board).
Registration Link
See the IFAI policy analysis concerning this issue.
Title of Event: Indian Arts and Crafts Board – Hybrid Consultation and Listening Session
Date/Time: August 18, 2023 from 1-4 p.m. MST
About: The Department of the Interior (Department) seeks Tribal and Indian artist input on draft revisions to 25 CFR Chapter II (Indian Arts and Crafts Board). The draft revisions seek to modernize the Indian Arts and Crafts Act’s regulations, which are implemented by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board (Board).
Registration Link
See the IFAI policy analysis concerning this issue.
Supreme /Lower Court Decisions:
No decisions relevant to Tribal food and agriculture were handed down at the time of publication.
Tribal-Congressional News:
The next battle in the House – Politico Pro
- The bill to fund the Agriculture Department and FDA advanced from committee, with massive cuts to the USDA and programs created by the Inflation Reduction Act.
- Remaining bills will be marked up by the full House Appropriations Committee this week, clearing the way for floor action. The bill would slash funding for the agencies by more than a third.
- The Freedom Caucus warned Speaker Kevin McCarthy that they expect spending levels to line up with fiscal 2022 levels of $1.471 trillion — and will vote against any increase past that line.
- This means a renewal of the Farm Bill by Sept. 30th is unlikely, given appropriators need to avoid a government shut down, which will include House and Senate spending bills and reconciliation between the two chambers. Senate Agriculture Chair Debbie Stabenow told Politico that an extension to keep Farm Bill programs running through the end of the calendar year (when the money truly runs out) is possible.
Millions in funding helping to protect forestland just outside of Shenandoah National Park – (cbs19news.com) -CBS News Charlottesville
- Agroforestry is a large part of Tribal agriculture, and USDA announced $188 million in funding for a program designed to help continue programs or start new ones on Tribal lands.
- The program will go to help forests on tribal, non-tribal, and state lands to be protected.
Tribal youth aid pollinators with Extension-improved seed bombs – WSU Insider -Washington State University
- Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation land burned two years ago due to the 54-square-mile Chuweah Creek Fire. Now, with the help of Tribal youth, the Washington State University Extension Service are trying to help bring back plants and help pollinators in the area. More than 300 students and Head Start preschoolers from Nespelem, Inchelium, Lake Roosevelt, and Keller schools made and dispersed more than 2,000 seed balls during field days in June, visiting Tribal range land near Nespelem that burned during the fire.
Montana tribal-owned meat processing plant plans advance (missoulian.com) -Missoulian
- More Tribes have begun or have recently completed meat processing plants to provide Tribal Nations and Tribal producers facilities to process meat as well as market opportunities. These facilities also increasing food security and access for Tribal citizens. After planning and evaluating potential sites for the past four years, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are requesting USDA grant to establish the first Tribal meat processing facility in Montana.
- For the meat facility, CSKT is requesting a $7.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The grant’s main objective is to aid native animals’ ability to provide meat in Indian Country. If the proposal is approved, the tribes intend to donate $2.16 million of their own funds.
- The Intertribal Agriculture Council has training and support for those interested in learning more about establishing meat processing facilities.
USDA opens debt-relief applications for producers who suffered past discriminations (tribalbusinessnews.com) -Tribal Business News
- The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022’s Section 22007 permits producers who have been subjected to unfair treatment to apply for funding. Although specific awards that might be given were not mentioned in the introduction, the program has a $2.2 billion budget overall. Landowners who own farms, ranches, or forests are all eligible for the program.
- Find more information by visiting the Intertribal Agriculture Council’s website at indianag.org or the United States Department of Agriculture at usda.gov.
New “Seeds & Breeds” legislation proposes $75M for research on regional varieties of plants and animals (tribalbusinessnews.com) -Tribal Business News
- Seeds & Breeds Act’s proposed legislation includes $75 million in new funding aimed to create and support “regionally-adapted” varieties of plants and animals.
- IFAI’s partners at the Native Farm Bill Coalition expressed support for the legislation.
Program Brings Indigenous Youth to Campus for Leadership Summit | University of Arkansas (uark.edu) -University of Arkansas
- The Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative is hosting its ninth annual Native Youth in Food and Agriculture Leadership Summit July 18-24 at the U of A. Indigenous participants ages 18-24 will travel from around the country to Fayetteville to spend a week building relationships with other Indigenous youth while learning from industry leaders about different tracks within food and agriculture.
For Grand Ronde tribes, reclaiming land is a way of healing – OPB
- Due to failed treaties with the American government and a termination strategy that resulted in the tribe losing federal recognition in 1954, the Grand Ronde people lost almost all of their territory. The Grande Ronde are working to get land back as well as utilize conservation and remediation efforts in the area around Willamette Falls in Oregon. One key way the Tribe does this is through working with the US Forest Service.
- Grande Ronde’s example shows how the termination era impacted access to traditional foods, language and culture a Tribe’s access to traditional foods and culture — something they and other Tribes with similar experiences are still working to overcome.
- On the current 11,500-acre reservation, the tribes cultivate the land for economic wood production as well as cultural objectives, including sowing native flora and gathering first foods like camas bulbs, and burning meadows for elk hunting.